A state alcohol regulatory agency provided a $100,000 grant ---- $25,000 more than last year ---- to help local deputies fight underage drinking and alcohol-related crimes, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department announced this week.

The money, from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, will support awareness and enforcement activities in communities patrolled by the sheriff's department, including Vista, San Marcos, Encinitas, and unincorporated areas in North County, the sheriff's department said.

Last fiscal year, the state agency provided a $75,000 grant to the department. During that time, from July 2011 to June 2012, deputies wrote 235 citations and made 5,945 arrests for alcohol-related crimes across the county, the department said.